Shirley Deane (born Shirley Deane Blattenberger; March 16, 1913 – April 26, 1983) was an American film actress.
Early years Born in Fresno, California, to Jesse H. Blattenberger and his wife Zola (née Redden), she was raised by her maternal grandmother.
Career Deane was best known as an actress for playing "Bonnie Jones" in 20th Century Fox's Jones Family series of films.Tucker p. 61 She was under contract with 20th Century Fox, and she acted in Prairie Moon (1936), the Flash Gordon serial, and some of the Charlie Chan films. She was the original choice for the title role in the Blondie film series, a role that went to Penny Singleton after Deane was considered to be "too harsh when she nagged Dagwood", while Singleton came across as softer and sweeter.
Deane also toured in revues, singing "some stirring patriotic and soft sentimental numbers". She was the headline attraction in Star Dust Revue, a stage show that toured the southern United States in 1942, and she performed in U. S. military camps.
Personal life and death On December 20, 1941, Dean married theatrical agent Thomas Kettering Jr. in Reno, Nevada. Deane left the film business in the 1940s, when she began her family. She died of cancer in Glendale Memorial Hospital in Glendale, California, on April 26, 1983, aged 70.
Filmography Year Title Role Notes1933 Dancing Lady Chorus Girl Uncredited1934 Stand Up and Cheer! Dancer Uncredited1935 Dante's Inferno Passenger in Boiler Room Uncredited1935 Redheads on Parade Minor Role Uncredited1935 Metropolitan Girl Who Sings Flat Uncredited1936 King of Burlesque Phyllis Sears 1936 Charlie Chan at the Circus Louise Norman 1936 The First Baby Trudy Wells 1936 Educating Father Bonnie Jones 1936 Girls' Dormitory Fritzi 1936 Back to Nature Bonnie Jones 1936 One in a Million Girl in Band 1937 On the Avenue Chorus Girl Uncredited1937 Off to the Races Bonnie Jones 1937 Nancy Steele Is Missing! Nancy 1937 The Jones Family in Big Business Bonnie Jones 1937 Hot Water 1937 Borrowing Trouble 1938 Love on a Budget Bonnie Thompson 1938 A Trip to Paris 1938 Safety in Numbers 1938 Prairie Moon Peggy Shaw 1939 Everybody's Baby Bonnie Thompson 1939 Undercover Agent Betty Madison 1940 Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe Princess Aura Serial1940 Private Affairs First Girl in Bridge Game Uncredited (final film role)
References
Bibliography Tucker, David C. The Women Who Made Television Funny: Ten Stars of 1950s Sitcoms. McFarland, 2015.
External links